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Sunday, 12 August 2012

Learning from the Surah of Al-Quran: Surah al-Inshirah (94: The Expansion/ Peace of Heart)

This surah was revealed in the very early days of the Prophet's mission, soon or immediately after the previous surah, ad-Dhuha, and is very similar to it in style and topic. The Prophet s.a.w had been very troubled in his early years by the terrible things which went on in Makkan society: baby girls were buried alive because their parents did not want to pay to feed and clothe them, poor people were exploited or abused by the rich, families continued blood-feuds for generations, killing innocent people and continuing hatreds. In place of the simple and pure worship of One God which was originally established by their great forefather Ibrahim (PBUH) the Arabs worshipped whichever of the 360 idols that were standing around the Ka'bah that pleased them, either alone or as 'intermediaries' between themselves and Allah, the great God. All of these things were a great burden or weight upon the young Muhammad s.a.w, who instinctively felt how wrong everything was around him. When the Angel Jibra'il (PBUH) came to him with Allah's Word, it was a great source of comfort, an 'opening' of his heart and easing of his heart.

After reminding the Prophet (PBUH) of Allah's great favours to him, the surah goes on to say that Allah always sends some relief along with or after every difficulty. The final verses can be understood to mean that we should continue to strive to perform our worship even after Allah has eased our load with His Mercy, since many people are very active in praying when they are in trouble but forget Allah when everything is going well. It can also mean that we should make good use of our free time at the end of our work today.

When our duties to others have been performed, we should spend time in the evening and night hours with our Lord, in worship.